“I just have to keep moving forward” - NASCAR Truck debutant and cancer survivor reflects on his early exit from Martinsville race

A. J. Waller recently talked about cool suit issues and moving forward from the initial setback to his NASCAR career. A budding stock car driver made his debut at the NASCAR Truck race in Martinsville on Friday. However, the 21-year-old had to end his race prematurely due to the intense heat within the car.

While it was not his best showing, the No. 22 driver had battled stage 4 cancer a few years back and got back in the deep end to reignite his racing career.

Reaching the NASCAR Cup Series is a dream of many, and Waller is one of them. The Florida-born driver started racing at a young age and was on course to climb the stock car racing ladder. However, he was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. in 2020 and had to halt his racing venture. On the bright side, in 2022, he announced that he had survived cancer and would restart his racing journey.

Reaume Brothers Racing gave A.J. Walker the No. 22 Ford F-150 for his debut race in the NASCAR Truck series, but he had to end his race early due to the intense heat within the car. This made him fall sick, and he had to come into the pits.

Subsequently, team owner Josh Reaume got into the No. 22 Truck and completed the rest of the race. Despite the unfortunate race result for him, Waller kept his head high and gave an inspiring message, when asked about his race review, as he said (via X/@Toby_Christie):

"I just got too hot, me personally, got too hot. I think, a cool suit would have worked. All I had was a helmet blower... It really sucks, but I just have to keep moving forward. Don’t let anything stop you, keep doing what you love."

Waller's retirement was not the first time a driver had faced an overheating issue within a racecar.

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Cooling issues took a toll on Brad Keselowski at the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas

Brad Keselowski at the NASCAR: Cup Practice - Source: USA Today

Racecars are pretty much shut off from their surroundings as aerodynamics don't allow much air to get inside a stock car's cockpit. Moreover, cooling has been an issue that has troubled various series, including the pinnacle of motorsport, F1.

On the other hand, Cup Series drivers usually run a cool suit to keep their bodies at sustainable temperatures. However, Brad Keselowski had suffered a cool suit failure in COTA earlier this month. He was then rushed to the infield care center, as the team revealed after the race:

"After his cool suit failed during today’s race, @keselowski went to the infield care center to get some IV fluids. Can confirm he is feeling much better now."

Meanwhile, A. J. Waller would like to get another shot at running in the Truck Series, but there has been no confirmation regarding the same by either him or the Reaume Brothers Racing so far.